"A carefree, pampered heiress x a sensitive, devoted, tough-as-nails soldier"
1.
On the day of the matchmaking ball toss, the embroidered ball Liao Jinrui throws to the man she loves is accidentally knocked into the arms of a boorish soldier.
Her father can only advise her, "Put up with him for three months, then divorce him."
Her bridal sedan carries her from a grand mansion to a humble home.
The pampered, delicate heiress becomes the impoverished wife of the young guard Chen Duo.
Liao Jinrui resents him for having no name or status, and for being clumsy and brutish.
Chen Duo, meanwhile, thinks she is useless at housework and unbearably spoiled.
They can't stand the sight of each other, and keep their divorce papers beneath their pillow every day, as if to ward off evil.
2.
At last, the three months are up.
Chen Duo hesitates, then lifts the pillow.
But Liao Jinrui comes stumbling over, drunk. Her hazy eyes make his ears turn red.
She traces circles with her fingertip across his solid chest and murmurs,
"I think... I might like you a little."
Chen Duo freezes for a moment, nearly brought to tears.
That night, he holds her in his muscular arms and spins around with her more than a dozen times.
Liao Jinrui laughs out loud as he vows,
"I'll treat you well for the rest of my life!"
Neither of them expects that after their night together,
the divorce papers bearing his name will arrive right on schedule.
3.
It's the third year since Chen Duo left.
He has earned distinction in battle and been appointed General of the Northern Garrison, choosing to remain behind to guard the cold northern frontier.
He has only just heard that his former wife and her entire family have been exiled,
when he turns and sees Liao Jinrui collapse before his eyes, surrounded by soldiers escorting prisoners and threatened with swords.
He can't stop himself from turning his horse around and rescuing her,
and... her child?
4.
"Chen Duo! I hate you so much!"
Chen Duo's face darkens. Ignoring her fists and punches, he forcibly takes her back to the military camp and drops her onto the bed.
Liao Jinrui wipes away her tears, but still makes sure to curse him: "You faithless bastard!"
Chen Duo is just as blunt: "You heartless woman."
The tall, burly man scowls, pushes the fatherless child out the door, locks it, and slowly walks toward her.
Now that they've met again, he wants to start over by settling the first score between them.
"That night..."
His large, veined hand braces on the edge of the bed.
He bends down and murmurs resentfully, "How could you touch me..."
"...while calling out another man's name?"
[Reading Guide]
1. Both leads have only ever been with each other, happy ending, lighthearted
2. The child in the blurb is not the leads' child
3. (The hero was originally written as a brooding, obsessive type, but I've changed him into a more sunny, tough-as-nails type, so some of the plot has changed. Sorry! I may still revise the blurb before posting, but the story as a whole won't change again.)
Theme: Stay humble and keep your feet on the ground
